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Websleuths News

On the latest edition of Websleuths Radio we tackle the Rebecca Zahau murder case and the big mistake made in the autopsy report of the Las Vegas shooter.
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http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/index....l=1&thispage=1
It's a big story about the girls.
I was noticing some judgement on these poor souls. What the hell is the difference between these gals that are doing drugs away from their familes and children , then you have the moms that are pretending to hold it together and hammering back a bottle of wine after dinner every night calling it cocktails? in front of the kids. The kids always talk. Get real.

Atleast these girls had the decency to continue thier quest somewhere else.

While the disease of addiction had them in its merciless grip. Whos the better parent? Sorry I feel sorry for the families. It's absolutley horrific what happened to them.

I said a few pages back it was somebody with a foot fetish, contrary to what some may think that is how they gratify themselves so it's perfectly logical that the victims would still be clothed. Strangulation is usually the method that sexual attacks employ. LE in Md. haven't released that many details on the ones I think are connected. My brother added info too stating that the killer had to be familar with the area and I believe this is true with the NJ ones as well. A trucker is a possibility but that's not what I'm thinking for the I95 and Rt. 40 connections.

Somebody mentioned the Daytona killer and he has been quiet and the ones in NC they were trying to link uncovered a lot more than were first known. Weren't those victims shot in the head?

We have a few links posted here about the prostitute and the hugger john so let me just say I don't find that lead credible. In the rag mag interview she states he told her he killed people and was wanted in 3 states whereas the other report doesn't go into much other than the hugging part and there's a pic of her. Whether it's drug use or whatever one look says she isn't credible. Nothing about a foot fetish either.

I have a theory about the heads facing east as well since LE felt it was important enough to mention and we all thought it was religiously related or ritualistic. There are people who also have a form of OCD that have to have everything lined up straight in a perfect order so that's possible and since he probably killed them somewhere else but dumped them there maybe he's left handed and carried them that way and that's just how they faced as he laid them down.

perhaps more simple

I went back and reread the thread.

I have come to the conclusion that the statement the killer was making with the victems was possibly a much simpler and more common statement than people have said so far. I think I may know what that statement is but I do not want to say just yet as I am going on very slim data and I think that in time we may all know more. Besides, knowing what he is saying (even if I am correct) does not really bring us that much closer to catching him.

On another note: I would not be surprised to find that he did not keep the shoes. (It does not matter to me if he did keep them but I would not be surprised to learn that he ditched them.)

I kept reading that they were posed. Does anyone know exactly how (what position) they were posed other than just facing east?

Hi Doc, nice to see you. I haven't read that they were "posed" so to speak other than the way they were laid and heads facing east. I absolutely agree about the shoes. The reports that were first released made it a point to tell that detail so imo LE wanted that info out there. I don't think the heads facing east is purposeful but the shoes being missing are. LE and the profilers are thinking ritualistic because of where they were placed, no shoes, heads etc. He did manage to be undetected from the time he placed the first body there till the last. The area in Harford County Md. he did the same thing in a soybean field in a well traveled area which is what stuck out to my brother. He was able to keep dumping bodies without being detected. After the first two were found he then moved but not far at all. Same victim types and area, strangled, etc. One was nude so no shoes, the rest I don't know. In the cases in Harford county if LE had been quiet about the next two that were found near the soybean field they could've caught him dumping I think. After the ones in NJ were found he'll move again imo.

I am seeing a difinite connection between Fl and Jersey. Kim went to AC from Fl abt 4 yrs ago according to paper. More than likely she was in Daytona. This person could be an acquaintance of hers from her days in Fl.

Atlantic City woman found slain in her tub
By MICHAEL CLARK Staff Writer, (609) 272-7204
Published: Tuesday, October 3, 2006
ATLANTIC CITY — An Atlantic City woman was found dead in her bathtub Monday morning after having bled to death from cut wounds to her neck, authorities said.
No arrest has been made in the killing.

Karen Luongo, 43, was found in her apartment at 26 N. Georgia Ave. by a friend at about 9 a.m. after he broke into her third-floor apartment because he had not seen her in several days, said Atlantic County Prosecutor Jeffrey S. Blitz, who did not identify the friend. After discovering the body, the man left the apartment and went to the Atlantic City Police Department to report the death.

Raffo last seen with 3 men in van, friend says
‘I'm real nervous about giving you this because I don't want to mess up this investigation.' — Kenny Bilecki

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Raffo last seen with 3 men in van, friend says
‘I'm real nervous about giving you this because I don't want to mess up this investigation.' — Kenny Bilecki
By MICHAEL CLARK Staff Writer, (609) 272-7204 & MADELINE VITALE Staff Writer
Published: Friday, December 1, 2006
SLIDESHOW Picture 1 of 3
Kenny Bilecki, who is currently incarcerated in Atlantic County jail on a drug offense, was the boyfriend of Kim Raffo, the first of four victims identified after their bodies were found last week in the West Atlantic City section of Egg Harbor Township. Another inmate told Bilecki she was with Raffo on what might have been her last night alive.
Staff photo by Anthony Smedile
It may have been her last night alive.
Kim Raffo, one of four prostitutes found dead last week behind a string of motels in West Atlantic City, was welcomed by three men as she climbed into a large green van along with another woman named Pam. The group departed on a late-night trip to several different motel rooms.

But after one of the men — a white man with greasy black hair, a dark beard and a beer belly — began assaulting the girls with insults such as “dirty whore” and rambling about a 15-year prison term he served for murder, Pam decided she had heard enough and left the party. Raffo stayed.

That's the story Raffo's boyfriend, Kenny Bilecki, told The Press on Thursday during an hour-long interview at the Atlantic County jail. He said Pam — who since that night has also become incarcerated — told him the story during his midnight work shift at the jail.

“I didn't have much time to talk to her,” said Bilecki, who would not divulge Pam's last name. “I don't know the whole details of what she was in for but I do know that when she came to me ... she was beaten up pretty bad. I haven't seen her since.”

Bilecki said investigators with the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office questioned him Monday at the jail and also interviewed Pam for more than two hours.
“I'm real nervous about giving you this because I don't want to mess up this investigation,” said Bilecki, who has served the majority of a 364-day sentence for cocaine possession.

Since the bodies were found, officials have been careful not to comment on any developments or details regarding the investigation. They have only released the identities of the four women.

“Part of this investigation is we have interviewed a lot of people,” Atlantic County Prosecutor Jeffrey S. Blitz said Thursday in response to questions about Bilecki's claims. “I am not going to say who.”

However, several city residents said investigators have been showing sketches and cell-phone pictures of a man who resembles the erratic man in Pam's story.

Denise Hill, a resort prostitute who knew some of the victims, said she recognizes the man in the pictures and said she spent the night with him at a Best Western Hotel on Pacific Avenue. She said he only being asked her to console him as he told her he had done terrible things in his past. Hill said Thursday that the man, who she claims is named Eldridge, had a Pennsylvania license plate on his car that ended with the numbers 0889.

A hotel clerk at the Best Western attempted to look up the name in the customer registry after being provided the limited information but could not find a similar listing.

On Tuesday, Charles “Ish” Coles, of Atlantic City, who was friends with Raffo, said he was worried authorities consider him a suspect. He said he has been “harassed” with questions about the homicide.

Although Coles resembles the description of the picture that is circulating, Hill insists it's not him.

Another point of interest in the investigation, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer, has been room 101 at the Golden Key Motel. Motel workers have refused to allow anyone in the room and would not give a reason for their refusal. Blitz would not comment on how the room may fit into the investigation.

Blitz said his task force, which consists of five different agencies including the FBI, has been busy since the four women — Raffo, 35, of Atlantic City; Tracy Ann Roberts, 23, of Atlantic City; Barbara V. Breidor, 42, of Ventnor; and Molly Jean Dilts, 20, of Blairsville, Pa. — were identified. Authorities said the bodies were in the marsh behind the motel for a period of about a week to a month.

Since “we released the information about the identity of the victims, we have received a good bit of information,” the prosecutor said.

Despite the first victim being identified more than a week ago, Blitz said he's still not ready to release any of the bodies, which remain in a morgue that the Atlantic County Medical Examiner's Office leases at Shore Memorial Hospital in Somers Point.

“Once we have given instructions to the medical examiner that we have no further use for the bodies, the ME will be authorized to release them,” Blitz said.

Hugh Auslander, Raffo's ex-husband, said Thursday that he has been inquiring about the release of her body.

“They're not releasing her yet,” he said. “Possibly at the end of the week. I am waiting to hear from the Medical Examiner and the Prosecutor's offices.”

Charles Ismall Coles holds a photo of Kim Raffo, the first victim identified in the marsh behind the Golden Key Motel in Egg Harbor Township. Coles who was friends with Raffo, says Investigatiors have been trying to connect him to the deaths of the four women.They are trying to make itlike I killed these women he says.

An Atlantic City man, who was friends with one of the women found Nov. 20 in a West Atlantic City marsh, believes investigators suspect him in the deaths.
Charles Ismail Coles, known by area residents as “Ish,” said investigators have questioned him numerous times because of his close relationship with Kim Raffo, the first identified victim, whom Coles says he would provide a place to stay when needed. Coles also claims investigators have recently been showing area residents a photo of him.

“‘What if somebody can identify you being in West Atlantic City that night?'” Coles said members of Egg Harbor Township police asked him. “They are trying to make it like I killed these women.”

The authorities “actually tried to make me as a suspect, asking people in the neighborhood who I am and all that stuff,” said Coles, who claims he was approached by investigators as recently as Monday night and as early as the day after the bodies were discovered. “I only knew Kim (Raffo) and I saw Tracy (Ann Roberts) around. I don't know these other girls.”

Residents of the neighborhood also claim authorities have approached them with a picture of a possible suspect with black greasy hair and a scraggly beard. Coles, who has black hair and a dark beard, fits the description.

“We are not answering any questions about any suspects,” Atlantic County Prosecutor Jeffrey S. Blitz said when asked about Coles being questioned.
While much of the focus for the past week has been on identifying the bodies of four women found in the marsh, authorities have been quietly conducting an investigation to determine who killed and dumped the bodies. They returned Tuesday to the crime scene behind the Golden Key Motel in Egg Harbor Township and began inspecting the area and rooftops of several nearby motels off the Black Horse Pike.

At one point, two investigators walked out from the marsh, each holding black briefcases. One investigator also clutched two bulging brown paper bags with a hand covered by a purple glove. Another had a camera around his neck.

Eileen DeRose and George Tarrau, a couple who had stayed at the Golden Key Motel for 10 days, had all their belongings packed into canvas laundry bags and plastic garbage bags by Tuesday afternoon. They were ready to leave and said most of their neighbors had also checked out of the motel behind which one dead body was found.

At about 2 p.m. Tuesday, DeRose heard footsteps overhead. Tarrau said he heard people on the roof the night before, too.

“This is really scary,” she said.

Blitz would not comment on any details of the investigation, including Tuesday's developments.

New York journalists who have been reporting on the deaths have been amazed by Blitz's reticence, one said this week. While New York district attorney's offices typically hold daily news conferences and often leak information during major investigations, Blitz's office is virtually leak-free and circulates news releases featuring little more than one or two paragraphs of new information.

Authorities have not linked the deaths to other recent killings of prostitutes in the city.

In May, Veronica Fields, 45, was found dead in her North Georgia Avenue apartment in Atlantic City after smoke was seen coming from the window. An autopsy showed she died from a knife wound to the throat.

Karen Luongo, 43, was found with her throat slit while laying in a bathtub inside her North Georgia Avenue residence in October.

The prosecutor called the crimes dissimilar.

“These were people in their homes on North Georgia Avenue. They were cuttings. One was nude in the bathtub. One was African American and one was white. The only similarities were they were female and they were prostitutes,” Blitz said.

As the investigation continues, experts, who have deemed the possibility of a serial killer committing the crimes likely, are attempting to calculate the killer's motives and current actions.

Gregg McCrary, a former FBI agent who is an adjunct professor of forensic pathology at Marymount University in Virginia and travels the country as a profiler and expert witness in trials, said Tuesday that an apparent serial killer would be following news accounts.

“He will follow this closely,” McCrary said. “There is the damage assessment and also the thrill of the sense of power. How do you get in the paper or on the evening news? There are only two ways — fame and infamy. He is sort of basking in that. It is a sense of power and control.”

McCrary said the killer is likely someone of a similar socioeconomic class as his victims and is likely to live in the region where he committed the crimes.

“They are not transient,” McCrary said. “Generally serial killers work in a given region or area.”

McCrary said most serial killers are men. He also offered insight on several details released by the county prosecutor, including the report that the women were barefoot when they were discovered.

McCrary said the shoes could have been kept as the killer's trophies or, if forensic evidence shows abrasions on the victims' feet, possibly revealing that the killer made them walk to the marsh, then that could mean something more significant.

“We have (serial killers) put (bodies) in all different areas and then others in kinds of piles. It really comes down to body disposal sites,” McCrary said. “Often the places are where (the killers) feel safe with since dumping a body is a high-risk thing. We may be able to make some inference about knowledge or comfort about that area.”

McCrary said authorities are likely looking at the common links the women have, including prostitution and drug addiction.

December 4, 2006
BY WAYNE PARRY
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Selling sex on the streets of this gambling capital is a dangerous pursuit: Streetwalkers have been strangled, smothered, slashed and set ablaze.
So far this year, six prostitutes are believed to have been killed in or near Atlantic City. A seventh survived after her throat was slashed. Countless others are believed to have been assaulted but chose not to report the crimes to police.

The latest worry for those who make their living in the sex trade is that a serial killer was to blame for the deaths of the four women, ranging in age from 20 to 42, whose bodies were found face-down in a ditch last month behind a string of seedy motels just outside the city.

3 had throats slashed
''It's dangerous, but all you're focused on is that next dollar,'' said a prostitute known as Spazz, who is now looking for a gun or a knife to protect herself. ''It kind of clouds your judgment. You're not focused on the situation you're getting into. That's the scariest part about it.''
Authorities do not believe the four bodies found Nov. 20 just off the Black Horse Pike in neighboring Egg Harbor Township are related to the attacks on three prostitutes earlier this year along Georgia Avenue in Atlantic City. In each of the three earlier attacks, the prostitutes' throats were slashed; one survived.

Atlantic County Prosecutor Jeffrey Blitz said the Atlantic City cases were sufficiently different from the Egg Harbor deaths to make authorities believe they were carried out by different attackers. He also resists speculation that the four ditch bodies were the work of a serial killer, noting that autopsies could not determine the cause of death for two of the women. No arrests have been made in any of this year's attacks in and near Atlantic City.

Prostitutes are statistically 18 times more likely to be killed than other women, and 40 times more likely to die from other than natural causes, according to national studies.

My name is Luke and I am originally from the area where these horrible crimes took place. My mom actually works just down the Pike a ways, and even though the targets are apparently specific so far, I'll feel alot better when this guy is off of the streets..

I've read through all of your posts and I've enjoyed the exchange of ideas. I haven't seen such well thought out contributions on most of the others boards I've lurked on. (and that's if people even realize that four women are dead and a "possible" serial killer is on the loose.)

Anyway, I've been doing whatever it is that I do for @ 10 years, with modest success. Thought I would contribe, seeing that this thread hasn't moved today...

It's hard to say this early whether this unsub is a mission killer torn between his convictions and conflictions (like Green River Gary) or a paraphilia driven fetish/lust killer (Jerry Brudos and Dayton Leroy Rogers.)

I suppose he could be a bit of both, but most likely it's one or the other.

At the core this feels like a paraphilia driven sex crime, because strangulation is a most common means of sexual homicide. That and the victims were found fully clothed, but without shoes. (possibly trophies, depending on his particular fetish.)

As someone mentioned already,for an individual with an extreme case of podophilia (foot fetishism) the rest of the body is an afterthought. At its most severe, the person wouldn't be able to sexually fuction/become aroused without the feet being involved in the act.

This would also be a good reason for the vics being found fully dressed (also mentioned.) They may have never had to take their clothes off to satisfy this guy's fetish. In fact, that may have been the lore that made them drop their guard and go out to the Pike, where they apparently refused to go by all accounts. He offers money (most likely an overly generous offer and alot more than they normally made) to them... he just wants to play with their feet... he has a room out on the Pike.

Probably a charming individual who was either good/average looking and seemingly non-threatening.

One thing the crime scene tells us is that the way he left the bodies and how they were ultimately going to be discovered was important to him. I view it like a collection; precisely laid out and spaced apart. He may have even made a diagram on paper during the initial fantasizing. If this is a fetish crime, the direction of the bodies makes sense; heads out towards the water, feet towards the shore, where he could easily view them when he revisited the dumping area (as we know he did at least 4 times.)

We also know that he had zero fear of being interrupted, that he had all the time in the world to spend as long with the bodies as he desired. He most likely has sufficient knowledge in regards to water washing away forensic and trace evidence, as well as the fact that the longer the bodies went undiscovered the more neutralized any DNA evidence would become.

The thing that sticks out at me most is that he didn't simply dump them off somewhere in a haste like garbage... He put some thought into how he left their bodies. There was a symbolic gesture to it, even if only he alone knows what that symbolism is.

I do also see the potential for this to be a religious/ritualistic killing with undertones of Islamic symbolism. I'm just not sold on it at this moment.

If these bodies were posed, i would like to research where you (killer) could view them. what type of job would give u physical access to this area.Could they be seen from the road? or walking path? Is the grass mowed in that area by county people? Who travels that area on a regular basis? I mean where the bodies were not the pike.

BB, I don't know that they were so much "posed" as much as say neatly or deliberately layed out a certain way I guess is what I'm trying to say. When I see posed I think of the shock factor of how some use to pose their victims of sexual assualt and murder.

Some of the earlier links had pics posted of the area so I'll describe it just in case those links no longer work and you can't view them plus there were descriptions in the news articles. The general area itself has low budget motels with many drugs, prostitution, crime etc. on what they call blackhorse pike being a NJ turnpike on route 40. The exact area the four bodies were found by two women they called a walking trail behind one of those motels in a drainage ditch. The pics show very high weed growth to both sides of the walking trail. Not visible from anywhere that I can tell but that walking trail which looked somewhat wide to me. Not someplace anyone imo would be at night or even alone during the day. There's nothing back there that I could see from those pics and it's known to be a bad area so you wouldn't go there unless you were up to no good. That walking trail is definitely big enough for vehicles and probably wouldn't attract attention or even be noticed. Although it said behind a motel you cannot see the motel in the pics I viewed so the back of the motel is probably some distance.